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Children of Bach
Selected as 1994 Children's Book of the Year, this is a story of Jewish children's escape from Hungary when it was invaded by Germany. Taking just a few provisions and their beloved violins, nine-year-old Pali and his sister escape to Italy with their aunt and an irritable neighbour, Mrs Nagy.
Library Binding
First published December 31, 1992
22 people want to read
About the author
Eilís Dillon
74 books37 followersEilís Dillon (1920-1994) was born in Galway, in the West of Ireland. Her father, Thomas Dillon, was Professor of Chemistry at University College Galway. Her mother, Geraldine Plunkett, was the sister of the poet Joseph Mary Plunkett, one of the seven signatories of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, who was executed in Kilmainham Gaol at the end of the 1916 Easter Rising.
Eilís was educated at the Ursuline Convent in Sligo, and was sent to work in the hotel and catering business in Dublin. In 1940, at the age of 20, she married a 37-year-old Corkman. Her husband, Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin, became Professor of Irish at University College Cork. Eilís had always written poetry and stories, and in the intervals of bringing up three children and running a student hostel for the university, she developed her writing into a highly successful professional career. At first she wrote children's books in Irish and English, then started to write novels and detective stories. Over twenty of her books were published by Faber and Faber, winning critical acclaim and a wide readership. Her work was translated into fourteen languages.
In the 1960s, her husband's poor health prompted early retirement and a move to Rome. He died in 1970. Eilís Dillon's large historical novel about the road to Irish independence in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Across the Bitter Sea, was published in 1973 by Hodder & Stoughton in London, and Simon & Schuster in New York. It became an instant bestseller.
In 1974 Eilís married Vivian Mercier, Professor of English in the University of Colorado at Boulder. They moved to California when Vivian was appointed to a chair in the University of California, Santa Barbara. They spent each winter in California until Vivian's retirement in 1987, returning to Ireland for the spring and summer.
Eilís Dillon was active in a number of public and cultural bodies. She served on the Arts Council, the International Commission for English in the Liturgy, the Irish Writers' Union and the Irish Writers' Centre. She was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and a member of Aosdána, the State academy of writers, artists and composers. She had long argued for the establishment of such a body.
Vivian's death in 1989 was followed by the death in 1990 of Eilís's daughter Máire, who was a violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Despite these blows, and her own declining health, Eilís kept writing until the last months of her own life. An honorary doctorate was conferred on her by University College Cork in 1992. Her last two published works were Children of Bach (1993), a children's novel set in Hungary at the time of the Holocaust, and her edition of Vivian Mercier's posthumous Modern Irish Literature: Sources and Founders (Oxford, 1994). Her scholarly work on this book meant that her own last novel remained unfinished.
Eilís Dillon died on 19 July 1994. Of her fifty books, ten are now in print and others will shortly be republished. A special prize, the Eilís Dillon Award, is given each year as part of the Bisto Book Awards. She herself had won the main Bisto Book of the Year award in 1989 with The Island of Ghosts.
Eilís was educated at the Ursuline Convent in Sligo, and was sent to work in the hotel and catering business in Dublin. In 1940, at the age of 20, she married a 37-year-old Corkman. Her husband, Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin, became Professor of Irish at University College Cork. Eilís had always written poetry and stories, and in the intervals of bringing up three children and running a student hostel for the university, she developed her writing into a highly successful professional career. At first she wrote children's books in Irish and English, then started to write novels and detective stories. Over twenty of her books were published by Faber and Faber, winning critical acclaim and a wide readership. Her work was translated into fourteen languages.
In the 1960s, her husband's poor health prompted early retirement and a move to Rome. He died in 1970. Eilís Dillon's large historical novel about the road to Irish independence in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Across the Bitter Sea, was published in 1973 by Hodder & Stoughton in London, and Simon & Schuster in New York. It became an instant bestseller.
In 1974 Eilís married Vivian Mercier, Professor of English in the University of Colorado at Boulder. They moved to California when Vivian was appointed to a chair in the University of California, Santa Barbara. They spent each winter in California until Vivian's retirement in 1987, returning to Ireland for the spring and summer.
Eilís Dillon was active in a number of public and cultural bodies. She served on the Arts Council, the International Commission for English in the Liturgy, the Irish Writers' Union and the Irish Writers' Centre. She was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and a member of Aosdána, the State academy of writers, artists and composers. She had long argued for the establishment of such a body.
Vivian's death in 1989 was followed by the death in 1990 of Eilís's daughter Máire, who was a violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Despite these blows, and her own declining health, Eilís kept writing until the last months of her own life. An honorary doctorate was conferred on her by University College Cork in 1992. Her last two published works were Children of Bach (1993), a children's novel set in Hungary at the time of the Holocaust, and her edition of Vivian Mercier's posthumous Modern Irish Literature: Sources and Founders (Oxford, 1994). Her scholarly work on this book meant that her own last novel remained unfinished.
Eilís Dillon died on 19 July 1994. Of her fifty books, ten are now in print and others will shortly be republished. A special prize, the Eilís Dillon Award, is given each year as part of the Bisto Book Awards. She herself had won the main Bisto Book of the Year award in 1989 with The Island of Ghosts.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 30, 2018
Pali, Susan and Peter return home from school to find their flat empty and the front door open. Their parents who are prominent musicians do not return and neither does their Aunt who lives with them. The children suspect this is because they are Jewish, as in Hungary, life has recently become hard for the Jewish families. Comments at school and conversations overheard in shops lead the children to realise they would be safer to stay at home for a bit and see what happens.
Over the next few days the children wait and carry on with life as best as possible. They continue with their music practise and invite their friend David to stay with them, as his parents have also been taken by soldiers. Their waiting in the flat and their helplessness and realisation that anybody could be an informant was well described. The characters of Mrs Nagy and Mrs Rossi were interesting opposites and when they decide with the help of a brave neighbour to escape to a rural, mountain region of Italy.
The escape is interesting and well described. Two of the children take their violins, although the cello and piano stay, their enthusiam for music goes with them and they practice their parents mantra to play some Bach every day. Although this is nearly their downfall it is also their saviour and gives them the strength to carry on.
We felt this book was too short and when the group reach their place of safety the book leaves you not knowing if We wanted an epilogue to tell us more of these characters story.
Over the next few days the children wait and carry on with life as best as possible. They continue with their music practise and invite their friend David to stay with them, as his parents have also been taken by soldiers. Their waiting in the flat and their helplessness and realisation that anybody could be an informant was well described. The characters of Mrs Nagy and Mrs Rossi were interesting opposites and when they decide with the help of a brave neighbour to escape to a rural, mountain region of Italy.
The escape is interesting and well described. Two of the children take their violins, although the cello and piano stay, their enthusiam for music goes with them and they practice their parents mantra to play some Bach every day. Although this is nearly their downfall it is also their saviour and gives them the strength to carry on.
We felt this book was too short and when the group reach their place of safety the book leaves you not knowing if We wanted an epilogue to tell us more of these characters story.
February 16, 2016
This book appeared to be more interesting when I picked it up on the first day of selection. However, this particular book stuck out to me. It tells the tale of children who's parents had been picked up and taken away by the Nazis. After they discovered that they had to fend for themselves, they went into hiding along with adults in their lives that they still had. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to exclude the gore and focus more on what Jewish people during the Holocaust felt and went through.
May 8, 2011
A very tender book about Jewish children in Hungary making their way to safety after their parents have been taken. Although they are not sure who to trust, they find several kind folks who aid thhem in their journey. I loved reading about the role their music played in their lives, the way they were renewed and comforted when they were able to play "the music of the angels". I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the book I Am David.
August 17, 2018
Martha, Central patron, July 2018, 5 stars:
This book for older children is deserving of an adult reader's time. I found Dillon's exploration of neighborliness in Holocaust-era Hungary inspiring. The protagonists are children of Jewish musicians rounded up by Nazis. The three siblings and their friend must discern whom to trust as they struggle for survival. One of the children remembers his father's having said, "People are animals, after all. The only things that help us strive to be more are books and music." Although the context is harrowing, kindness prevails, so even very sensitive young readers should be able to handle it.
This book for older children is deserving of an adult reader's time. I found Dillon's exploration of neighborliness in Holocaust-era Hungary inspiring. The protagonists are children of Jewish musicians rounded up by Nazis. The three siblings and their friend must discern whom to trust as they struggle for survival. One of the children remembers his father's having said, "People are animals, after all. The only things that help us strive to be more are books and music." Although the context is harrowing, kindness prevails, so even very sensitive young readers should be able to handle it.
September 4, 2024
Quiet, understated book.
Jewish children came home from school to find their parents stolen by the Nazis. They take care of themselves as best they can, then good adults try to help them flee. It's more complicated than they hoped, and safety is never assured.
Jewish children came home from school to find their parents stolen by the Nazis. They take care of themselves as best they can, then good adults try to help them flee. It's more complicated than they hoped, and safety is never assured.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews